Choices: 'The Epic Fail' or 'I've Learned a Lot'

Choices

The choice is mine.  When I decide to go a new direction in my jewelry making (or life in general) I try to do my research.  What will I need to know and what tools will I need to have?  Two very important questions to be successful.  I may need to read, listen, take classes and review the tools in my toolbox.  I decide what to add and then start the project.

This time I'm learning about sheet metal, solder, and torches.  Several months ago I purchased a DVD  "'Fold Forming' by Eva Sherman.  It was fun to make her copper cuffs and I followed her instructions perfectly.  That was undoubtedly the key to success - follow the instructions!

see another cuff at https://www.etsy.com/listing/561289671/copper-cuff-fold-formed-copper-copper?ref=shop_home_active_4
Then I took a class on making a cuff given by Jeff Fulkerson.  The class was a stretch for my skill set but eventually I completed the silver cuff. 

 

So far so good.  And then life stepped in and due to several events (being sick for a month was one of them) I did not do any more work in metal or soldering. . 

I'm back in my studio ready to work and one of my first projects is going to be another silver cuff - An animal design piercing a rectangular piece of sterling silver to be soldered on another piece of silver.


I read my notes, thought I remembered what I needed to do and started to tin (silver) the back of the design piece.  I looked down and was surprised to find I melted the top 1/2 inch of silver.  I mean melted, it was gone.  I stopped and thought about what and why this happened. 


My findings:  I did not do a practice piece; I thought I remembered everything to do; my torch was too hot; my torch tip too big; I was impatient.

My choice - to realize I've learned some lessons here.  This is not an epic failure.  It is a disappointment and an opportunity to be creative with the remaining piece of the design. 

And isn't that the way of life?  The choice of learning, of being creative and making the best of what we have instead of seeing mistakes and disappointments as epic failures.   
  
Stay tuned to see what the remaining silver becomes!

Labels:
Location: Prescott, AZ, USA

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Learning As We Go!

Image
Viking knit is the oldest method of chain making and I've become fascinated by it.  Once I conquered the single knit, I decided to add beads.  I could have googled or asked how it was done but it seemed like something I could just figure out.  And I've learned a lot as I proceeded first with tumbled turquoise beads and then with pearls.  I thought I'd share a few of the things I've learned.   Iif you want a great tutorial on viking knit technique, Trina Ann at http://blog.trinaann.com/  has written a clear concise easy to understand tutorial.  I highly recommend it.    Tumbled tuquoise beads in viking knit  I used tumbled turquoise beads in the first viking knit chain and I did not really know what I was doing.  But I went right ahead and as it turned out, I liked the end result.  Since the beads were irregular in shape there was a random quality to the finished product. During that process, I beg...
Read more

Polymer Clay Conversation

Image
One of the polymer clay groups on FaceBook is 'Polymer Clay Collective'.  This is a group of artists working in polymer clay who share ideas and support each other.  I'm so glad to be a part.  A new feature of this group is the 'Polymer Clay Collective Conversations' where a different member answers a set  of questions.  I get to be first - the trailblazer! I hope you enjoy learning a little more about me and in two weeks I get to learn more about someone else. • Tell us a bit about where you live. I live in Prescott AZ right next to the national forest.   When I look out my studio windows, I often see large black ravens swooping between the pine trees.   Binoculars are always available for close viewing of our smaller forest birds.   You’ve probably read about the forest fires we have had in our area this summer.   The monsoon rains we are having are so welcome. • What do you do when you're not polymer claying? As of 2010, I...
Read more

I'm Back with New Pieces of Art Jewelry

Image
It’s been a while since my last post and while I missed writing them, I hope you also missed sharing my adventures!  Between a road trip to Berkeley and having painful (very painful) shoulder tendonitis my activities really slowed down.  Now I’M BACK!  Ready to explore new techniques and have fun. When I see a good tutorial about something new that catches my fancy, I buy it and eventually the day comes when I just have to try it.  Staci Louise Smith wrote a tutorial “Gold Rush: The Rustic Crackle Technique” for Craft Art Edu.  I loved the pictures of her necklaces and wanted to see what I could do.  If you like the crackle effect  on my pieces or want to try something new, check out her tutorial on   www.CraftArtEdu.com    They have good classes on many subjects. When I started following tutorials, I expected my pieces to look like the instructors.  That just did not happen and it is not the fault of the tutorial or ...
Read more